Let the cycling begin - finally!

[FinnFan]

Sheeeesh, I thought I was never going to find pure ammonia. In a last ditch attempt to locate it (after striking out at walmart, meijer, target, lowes, menards, and rural king - I stopped at the small, local hardware store today. Lo and behold, a jug of ammonia that didn't foam when I shook it.

This stuff appears to be pretty strong, too. Adding just a little less than a half teaspoon got my 10g quarantine tank up to somewhere between 2 and 3ppm. I squeezed some water from the sponge in my fairly well established (or so it seems) 5g, and added the directed amount of Stability. Now I get to try out this fishless cycling for myself!

The instructions I found, said to add enough initially to get the ppm to about 3 or 4, then to add that same amount every day. When I see the ammonia drop, I'll start checking for nitrites, and add only about half as much ammonia. When I see the nitrites drop, I'll check the nitrates, and hopefully we'll be off and running. Yahoo!

(just had to post because I am so thrilled I actually FOUND the ammonia!)

[Betta1]

That sounds about right, by the time I got to 4th fishless cycle I had a pretty good idea and barely even tested. I've heard putting to much ammonia in can be detrimental and actually kill beneficial bacteria but I put the level up pretty high to start and everything worked out good. Welcome to fishless cycling, your fish will thank you

[FinnFan]

How long does your fishless cycling usually take you?

[jones57742]

Originally Posted by FinnFan

Sheeeesh, I thought I was never going to find pure ammonia. In a last ditch attempt to locate it (after striking out at walmart, meijer, target, lowes, menards, and rural king - I stopped at the small, local hardware store today. Lo and behold, a jug of ammonia that didn't foam when I shook it.

This stuff appears to be pretty strong, too. Adding just a little less than a half teaspoon got my 10g quarantine tank up to somewhere between 2 and 3ppm. I squeezed some water from the sponge in my fairly well established (or so it seems) 5g, and added the directed amount of Stability. Now I get to try out this fishless cycling for myself!

The instructions I found, said to add enough initially to get the ppm to about 3 or 4, then to add that same amount every day. When I see the ammonia drop, I'll start checking for nitrites, and add only about half as much ammonia. When I see the nitrites drop, I'll check the nitrates, and hopefully we'll be off and running. Yahoo!

(just had to post because I am so thrilled I actually FOUND the ammonia!)

FF:

I cannot answer your cycling period question
BUT
(and please, please do not take this post as "talking down" as I am only relating my thoughts to "save you grief")

What you have probably found is not "pure ammonia" but a concentration of 19% ammonia in H2O with no impurities.

"This stuff" is unbelievable due to the affinity of ammonia.
It is very, very corrosive and more importantly
"one good whiff"
and you will pass out with permanent lung damage!

TR

[Betta1]

It takes at least 2 weeks to cycle a tank, it varies from tank to tank though so it's a good idea to keep testing

[FinnFan]

Jones...
Lol - whatever the stuff is, or whatever concentration it is, it is powerful enough for me to want to keep the lid on tight! As long as it cycles the tank, that's all I really need. I just couldn't believe how long it took to find an ammonia without other cleaning additives.

Thanks for the info, though

[Fishfirst]

Average cycle time is 4-6 weeks

[lohachata]

put in 1 cup of the stuff..wait 2 days and put in a second cup..wait 2 more days and put in fish..if they croak;you know the tank isn't cycled...lol
just kidding..
since you are only doing a 10 gallon tank;the cycle time should be a little faster.probably around 3 weeks.a large tank would take a little longer.
it is known that i am not much on fishless cycling.i would rather let the fish do it.but then again,i only finished the 9th grade so my knowledge of chemistry is very limited.i don't even own a test kit.but i am sure that if you follow the guidelines set out,you will be successful.just keep an eye on it.

[emc7]

squeezed some water from the sponge in my fairly well established (or so it seems) 5g, and added the directed amount of Stability.

Both of these will give you a very compressed cycle 1-2 weeks or less instead of one to two months. Once you read nitrite do both these things again (sponge, stability) to establish the nitrite eaters. Don't skip a day of testing or you may miss the peak. Let us know how long it takes.

[FinnFan]

Unfortunately, I am pretty sure that my ammonia has additives in it I waited a week for ANY signs of nitrItes to even show up (not peak, mind you, just show up at all!) and nothing happened, except the ammonia kept rising.

So I switched to the slow stock method, with squeezings and Stability. I am definitely sure that my 5 gallon is cycled now (did tests last night), so I will be adding squeezings regularly, and I've been "marinating" a tuft of filter floss in it for about 3 days now, which I will take and use as well.

[Betta1]

Don't forget about the raw shrimp method or feeding an empty tank to produce ammonia

[Kurly]

Originally Posted by FinnFan

Unfortunately, I am pretty sure that my ammonia has additives in it I waited a week for ANY signs of nitrItes to even show up (not peak, mind you, just show up at all!) and nothing happened, except the ammonia kept rising.

So I switched to the slow stock method, with squeezings and Stability. I am definitely sure that my 5 gallon is cycled now (did tests last night), so I will be adding squeezings regularly, and I've been "marinating" a tuft of filter floss in it for about 3 days now, which I will take and use as well.

Sorry about your ammonia I just started my first fishless cycle on my 10gallon three days ago. Now I hope my ammonia is the correct kind! Ammonia is the only ingredient listed on the bottle's label. It didn't foam when I shook it, but then again, neither did yours so who knows if I have the pure stuff

Hope you get your cycle going sooner than later.